Letters: School cuts are unnecessary

Letters editor

The draconian cuts to schools budgets are totally unnecessary and are being driven by a combination of government policy and misinformation.

Mr Goodwill MP states: “The government still has a big deficit to address.” That is just a smokescreen for the dismantling of public services, including local authority schools.

How could Gladstone Road function with the loss of 14 teachers? Would classes rise to 40-plus and similar in village schools? Contrast these cuts with Theresa May’s obsession with grammar schools, which will be funded by money from our schools.

This has already happened by throwing money at free schools, where local authority budgets are diverted to schools run as a business. These “cuckoo” schools have been set up in areas where adequate local authority provision exists.

Their track record is questionable, with many found to be poor at best. I would urge parents and teachers to lobby Mr Goodwill and their county councillors. Remember that there are elections in May.